The Scotsman, UK--Blair Bid to Rescue Peace Process--New WMW

[Gloria]

Full excerpts, links up now at http://www.zianet.com/insightanalytical
Tomorrow at Buzzflash.com


WORLD MEDIA WATCH FOR APRIL 16, 2004

1//The Scotsman, UK--BLAIR BID TO RESCUE PEACE PROCESS (Tony Blair will today attempt to steer George Bush, the United States’ president, back to the "road map" for Middle East peace by saying the deal agreed with Israel on Wednesday was merely the opening of a wider plan. In an bold diplomatic move, the Prime Minister will urge Mr Bush to downplay his meeting with Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, by saying that the future of the West Bank remains undecided… Mr Bush made scant reference to the road-map peace plan on Wednesday where, in a joint press conference with Mr Sharon, he said it would be unrealistic to expect Israel to give back those conquests made since 1949. Officials in London yesterday said this represented a clear shift in policy, as Mr Bush had previously referred to these Israeli settlements as a barrier to peace. The task facing Mr Blair is to steer the US president back to the agenda.)



2//Deutsche-Welle/dw-World.de, Germany--EU SKEPTICAL ABOUT ISRAELI PLAN (European Union leaders responded cautiously to U.S. President George W. Bush's announcement that Israel could keep Arab land it captured in 1967. They made clear that they would not accept a unilateral change to Middle East borders…Cowen tried to put a positive shine on Bush and Sharon's talks, despite the fact that the Palestinians and some experts on the region say the U.S. policy change has dealt a deadly blow to the peace process. Cowen welcomed Bush's affirmation that the U.S. is committed to the Road Map and a two state solution. The German government's statement echoed the EU's…But Chancellor Schröder's fellow party member Gernot Erler, the Social Democrats' foreign policy spokesman, called it an "affront to the EU, Russia and the United Nations" that the United States accepted Israel's settlement policies. "Bush's policies deepen the rift between the United States and the Arab world," he told DW-TV.)



3//The Jordan Times, Jordan--EDITORIAL: ‘SUPREME DIPLOMATIC FOLLY’(...and while US State Department officials will be keen to stress the linguistic ambiguities on His Majesty's upcoming visit to Washington, nothing can disguise the fact that the US has embarrassed and humiliated those in the Arab world who have consistently argued for a peaceful and negotiated settlement and strengthened the hand of those who argue that armed resistance is the only way to achieve Palestinian aspirations.)



Related: Arab News, Saudi Arabia--EDITORIAL: ANOTHER LIE (AS the final military preparations were being made to overrun Saddam’s Iraq, George W. Bush and his faithful British ally Tony Blair stood side by side and expressed their dedication to the road map for a peaceful and just settlement in Palestine. They offered the hope the war against Saddam would be coupled with US pressure on Israel to at long last deal honestly and fairly with the Palestinians…It is now clear that this was yet another lie to stand alongside claims about weapons of mass destruction and Saddam’s involvement in Sep.11…When in November George W. Bush enters the history books as one of his country’s most inept single-term presidents, he will leave his successor a poisoned legacy in the form of his Middle East policy.)



4//The Daily Times, Pakistan--MUSHARRAF WILL STEP DOWN AS ARMY CHIEF, SAYS RASHID (Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Thursday reiterated that President Gen Pervez Musharraf would step down as army chief at the end of the year as promised… Musharraf, who took power in a bloodless coup in 1999, promised to retire as head of the army by the end of 2004, paving the way for him to stay on as a civilian president. But when asked in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) whether he would heed calls from supporters to stay on in uniform, Musharraf said: “We have to wait and see.”)



5//Inter Press Service News Agency, Italy--IMF TO THE RESCUE OF GLOBAL TRADE (The International Monetary Fund is trying to coax developing countries, wary of western-dictated ”free trade”, to shelve protection of their own industries and embrace global trade liberalisation… Critics say the IMF's new plan amounts to a panacea for developing nations, which could plunge them further into poverty. ”This is the same as all other safety nets,” said Tony Avirgan of the Washington-based economic think tank, The Economic Policy Institute. ”If you don't make the casualties in the first place, you do not need safety nets. Trade doesn't need to create casualties”.)



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[BillZBubb]

1. The Palestinians must be relieved!

The Poodle is coming to their rescue! After all he's been SO successful thusfar influencing the nitwit from Texas.

[0007]

2. Will be an interesting dialog, no?

...maybe junior will double cross Sharon to please the Brit.

[Gloria]

3. I'm also wondering they'll discuss the reports about how the British

have been doing their own thing in Southern Iraq....as in ignoring the US direction...and keeping up contacts with Iran...